Customer Reviews

Blind Eye (Severn House Large Print)

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Sparta 466 BCE: Lysander, the commander of the Spartan secret police known as the Krypteia, coerces Iliona, high priestess of the river deity Eurotas into gathering intelligence for him. Sent to Sicily to investigate, Iliona keeps coming across a story of a one-eyed giant living in the hills above Sicily and preying on inhabitants. Iliona quickly comes to realise that the threat to Sparta does not come from the so-called Cyclops, or from Sparta's arch-enemy Athens. The traitor is part of the team sent to Sicily with her: but who is it, and why?

I like fiction set in and around Sparta, and I picked up this novel for that reason. I have mixed feelings about the novel: it was a quick page-turning read but not completely satisfying. I am interested enough to read the next novel in the series: I want to see how the character of Iliona develops.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Marilyn Todd was born in Harrow, Middlesex, but now lives in West Sussex with her husband, one dog and two cats. For the last ten years she has run her own secretarial business from home. It seems a long time since Marilyn Todd's previous book Scorpion Rising was published but is in fact just over a year. That book of course featured the character Claudia. this is a completely new venture for the author.

Although the author's books on the Roman widow, Claudia did not seem to have the same impact on the reading public as say Lindsey Davis or Steven Saylor. I was always eager for the publication of a new one as I enjoy the writing style and wit of the author. This new series seems to be carrying on to the same high standard. I am not sure whether the author had gone as far as she thought she could with the character Claudia, or whether she felt she needed a new character and a new country to freshen things up.

This series is set in Ancient Greece and the synopsis provided by Amazon will give the reader all they need to know about the content of this particular book. Suffice to say that it held my attention from beginning to end and I found it very enjoyable.

I am in the process of reading this novel and ,so far, it is just not keeping me interested. I have been curious about this Britsh novelist, so I thought I would try this new series of hers. It must be her style of writing that I find unappealing. There are so many other British mystery writers I love who have a much better style of writing. Needless to say, I will not be reading any further novels, not even the Claudia series. I may even stop reading this one.